Winston Churchill's granddaughter has finally spoken out about plans to replace his portrait on the £5 note. The former wartime Prime Minister will be replaced with an animal, the Bank of England announced on Wednesday, March 11.

It comes after over half a century of featuring notable Britons from history on the banknotes, including Churchill, Alan Turing and Jane Austen. The central bank's decision comes after a consultation in which the wildlife theme garnered the majority of public votes at 60%. The Bank said the change to wildlife imagery creates an opportunity to celebrate another important aspect of the nation. It is also said to make it more difficult for the notes to be counterfeited while making security features more distinguishable. Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Thursday, March 12, Emma Soames expressed her approval of the idea, dismissing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's characterisation of the change as "wokery".

She said: "Well, I disagree. The Bank of England is a very wonderful institution and it has complete rights over who it puts on its banknotes, and I don't think anyone, certainly not in my family, thought that this was something for life.

"It was done for ten years and here we are, the ten years are up." Soames stated she was "thrilled" that her grandfather had been on the five-pound note, but that she "never thought it would go on forever."

When presenter Paddy O'Connell queried Soames about the potential of a badger replacing Churchill on the note, she simply responded: "Well, lucky badger!"

"I don't feel particularly shocked, worried or upset by this turn of events at all," she added.

It follows Kemi Badenoch saying that changing the notes is "erasing our history".

The Conservative leader said: "I think that removing Churchill from banknotes is erasing our history. I'm a huge fan of Winston Churchill. I think that he is very much believed to be this country's greatest wartime prime minister.

"This is not a problem at all. It's not something that needs to be solved.

"If anything, I think that they should be putting more historical figures on banknotes. I would quite like to see Margaret Thatcher on a banknote. I think she was Britain's greatest peacetime prime minister.

"Changing the pictures to put wild animals on them is a silly thing to do. I absolutely do not support it."